Security Summary: May 17, 2007

Police secure the area as residents rally in protest against a U.S. military presence in the Shaab neighborhood of Baghdad today.

Diala- Baaquba hospital on Thursday received three unidentified bodies while unknown gunmen shot dead a health department employee outside Baaquba hospital, a medical source said.

Kut- Iraqi security forces on early Thursday launched a search campaign in northeastern Kut, 180 km southeast of Baghdad, and detained ten suspected militants, a security source.

Diwaniya- At least four people were killed and five more wounded during the clashes that erupted on Thursday between Iraqi security forces and Mahdi army militiamen in the Shiite city of Diwaniya, 180 km south of Baghdad, medical and security sources said.

Hilla- At least a civilian was killed and three others, all were of one family, were wounded on Thursday when an explosive charge went off near their home in Hilla city, 100 km south of Baghdad, a police source said.

Diala- Unknown gunmen clad in Iraqi military-style uniform on Thursday forced at gunpoint a minibus carrying twelve people to unknown destination in al-Adhim area, Diala province, 57 km northeast of Baghdad, eyewitnesses said.

Diala- Unknown gunmen on Thursday stole one billion Iraqi dinars ($ 860,000) from government accountants as they left a Diala bank with bags of cash, a security source said.

Mosul- A total of three hundred suspected gunmen were arrested over the past 24 hours during a security operation in Mosul, while a curfew is still imposed on the city until further notice, deputy chief of Ninewa police department said on Thursday.

Baghdad – A U.S. helicopter was destroyed, while damage was reported to nine others in a mortar attack on Sunday on the Taji Camp, north of Baghdad, a source close to the Multi-National Force in Iraq (MNF) said.

Nassiriyah- Eleven were killed and seventy others wounded in the clashes that flared up between police forces and fighters loyal to Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr in al-Nassiriyah city, a medical source from Thi-Qar province said on Thursday.

Zakho- Fourteen persons were arrested by the security border forces in Zakho, Duhuk province, while trying to infiltrate to Turkish territories, a security source said on Thursday.

From VOI